Adam Driver Talks About Shooting Han Solo's Death Scene in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Adam Driver recently opened up about his experience shooting the scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens where Kylo Ren kills Harrison Ford‘s Han Solo. This was a pretty shocking and emotional scene, and it made the character Kylo Ren completely unforgivable. There’s no redemption for him in my opinion.
While a guest on CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, Driver expressed the emotions he had while shooting this scene where Kylo killed his father Han with his lightsaber. When asked if it was “tough” to film the scene, Driver said:
“I remember shooting that day and it didn’t feel like that at all, obviously. John Williams wasn’t playing in the background, and it was very emotional, actually, shooting it with Harrison. Harrison was so generous and contemplative. To me, that was a great moment on set, even though it was his death.”
I hated that Han Solo was killed off by Kylo and then they tried to redeem the villain. However, Ford finally got his wish when the character was killed off. He’s been wanting Han Solo to be killed off for years. Ford previously explained: “I figured that his utility had been exhausted, bled out, and, well, I was willing to die for the cause. Bring some gravitas, some base.”
Driver went on to talk about his hesitation to join the Star Wars franchise for fear of fan backlash, which the sequel films were hit with. He said:
“I took it really seriously and thought about it a lot and was very on the fence. I was aware it was a great opportunity and I didn’t want to be in it and be bad, a lot of people were going to watch it. I was a fan of those movies.”
Driver is a great actor, and he made a great Star Wars villain, I just didn’t care for the the story arc and how the films felt so disjointed.
Several members of the cast previously talked about the Han Solo death scene, and John Boyega began by saying: "We're just keeping it moving to be honest with you, man. It's true. The pressure's on, man. There's no time. I think that's one thing unique to me about watching this movie was the commentary on war. There hasn't been a Star Wars movie yet that has explored war in the way The Last Jedi does. It's very messy; the categorizing of good and evil is all mixed together. In terms of Han, I'm sure we all feel sentimental if someone were to sit Finn down, sit Rey down. But Rey's off training, she's got stuff to do. I've got a back injury, I've got stuff to do. I can't think about Han at the moment."
Oscar Isaac then offered his opinion on the matter: "This is reverberating, but he's right. It's a dire situation, it's critical to the Resistance, which is on its last legs. We're trying to survive. The First Order is right on top of us. It is like war - you just gotta keep moving to try and survive. So I think you feel the momentum of everything that happens in The Force Awakens just pushing and getting to a critical mass in this film."
Daisy Ridley had a much different outlook on the death of Han, though, saying: "I will interject there. And I think it's the beauty of having storylines that are happening in tandem and affecting each other. Because I would say that where it leads very much affects me. Rey is a character who has been alone for a very long time. And she's really open to love and friendship, so Finn and BB-8 come along and it's like this amazing adventure. And then Han, without trying to, she seeks something from him because there's an intimacy, and there's a sort of figure or something she never dreamed of for her. Everything is new to her, so she's understanding things in a different way, and lucky for me, because I was trying to get to grips with everything going on, and Rey is trying to get to grips with everything going on. So for Rey there is some time. Everything is moving forward, but she has some time to ask questions and wonder what it means it is that led someone to do something like that. And also how that directly affects the world around her. And she's worried about being at home. So I'd say she's a bit more affected."
What are your thoughts on how Han Solo was killed off in The Force Awakens?